The structural proteins M, E, and N are essential for the assembly and formation of the viral envelope —the outermost layer of the virus that protects the virus and helps facilitate entry into host cells.
“In this paper, using coarse-grained models, we have been able to successfully model the formation of SARS-CoV-2: the N proteins condense the RNA to form the compact ribonucleoprotein complex, an assembly of molecules containing both protein and RNA,” Zandi said. “This complex interacts with the M proteins that are embedded in the lipid membrane.”.
“The experimental studies regarding the specific role of each of the several structural proteins involved in the formation of viral particles are soaring but many details remain unclear.” .
“We now have a better understanding of what interactions are important for the packaging of the genome and the formation of the virus.
This is the first time we have been able to fine-tune the interaction between the genome and proteins and obtain the genome condensation and the assembly simultaneously.”
The title of the paper is “Biophysical Modeling of SARS-CoV-2 Assembly: Genome Condensation and Budding.”